Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina and Nicolas Jarry of Chile picked up the biggest title of their careers on Saturday at the Rio Open presented by Claro, outlasting Brazilian wild cards Thomaz Bellucci and Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-7 in a thrilling final
Both teams held serve throughout the first set to force a tie-break, but a backhand return winner from Bellucci at 1/1 gave the Brazilians a mini-break and they held the lead for the rest of the set. A double fault from Dutra Silva allowed Gonzalez/Jarry to take a 2-0 lead in the second set and the Argentine-Chilean duo ultimately forced a Match Tie-break.
With the boisterous crowd that included former World No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten loudly cheering Bellucci/Dutra Silva on, the Brazilian pair fought back from being down a mini-break on two occasions. But at 7/8, Bellucci shockingly hit two double faults to hand Gonzalez/Jarry the title after one hour and 43 minutes.
This is the first ATP 500 title for both Gonzalez and Jarry. Gonzalez has won six ATP Tour doubles titles, including last week at the Argentina Open (w/Zeballos). Jarry earned his second ATP Tour doubles title, with his maiden trophy coming last year in Quito (w/Podlipnik-Castillo).
Despite the loss, Bellucci/Dutra Silva became the first all-Brazilian pair to reach the final in tournament history. They both drop to 1-2 in their individual ATP Tour doubles final records.
Gonzalez/Jarry earn 500 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $115,940 for their title run, while Bellucci/Dutra Silva walk away with 300 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $56,750.
Source: ATP World Tour
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